Drug and Alcohol Review (1995) 14, 36%375

Policing pubs: what happens to crime?

LUCINDA BURNS 1, BRUCE FLAHERTY 1, STEVE IRELAND 2 & MAUREEN FRANCES a

~Drug and Alcohol Directorate, NSW Department of Health, and 2NSW Police Service

Abstract

The aim of this study was to test the effect of heightened police enforcement of the N S W Liquor and Registered Clubs Acts on overall criminal offences and, specifically, the number of assaults. Ten police patrols were included in the study. Five of these patrols were allocated to the experimental condition and five were allocated to the control condition. Beat police in the experimental controls conducted frequent but random visits to predesignated licensed premises over a 2-month period. Police in the control patrols maintained their normal duties. Numbers of offences in the experimental and control patrols were then compared for 2 months before the intervention, for the 2-month intervention phase and for 2 months post-intervention. Results of the study indicated a significant increase in the number of offences in the experimental patrols during the intervention phase. Reasons for this increase are discussed. [Burns L, Flahetty B, Ireland S, Frances M. Policing pubs: what happens to crime? DrugA/cobol Rev 1995; 14:369-375.]

Key words: police; alcohol; crime.

Introduction

Alcohol-related crime, violence and antisocial be- haviour are not new phenomena. Scullard [1], com- menting on the popularity of worship of the Greek wine-god Dionysius (Bacchus) in ancient Rome, records that its celebration was often accompanied by intoxication, crime and immorality. Almost 2000 years later (1881) Edmund Fosberry, then Inspector General of Police for New South Wales, also drew attention to the problems associated with the public abuse of alcohol.

I believe that with improved legislafon for the better control of licensed public-houses, and for dealing with offenders for disorderly conduct and minor misdemeanours, the hands of the police would be strengthened, and the com- munity would be the gainers by suppression of the annoyances now so prevalent.[2]

Although wide concern about alcohol-related vi- olence is frequently voiced, the nature of the connec- tion between alcohol and violence remains poorly understood. In attempting to understand the con-

Lucinda Burns RN, BA(ttons), Information Manager, NSW Drug and Alcohol Directorate; Bruce Haherty BA(Hons) Dip Urb Stud, Manager, Research and Evaluation, NS\¥ Drug and Alcohol Directorate; Steve IreIand BA, Inspector, Senior PoIicy Analyst, NS\¥ Police Service; Maureen Frances MSc, Research Officer, NSW Drug and Alcohol Directorate. Correspondence to Lucinda Burns, Drug and Alcohol Directorate, NSW Health Department, CMB 961, North Sydney NS'W 2060, Australia.

The comments and views expressed in this paper axe those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NSV~ r Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the NSW Department of Health nor the NSW Polise Service.

Received 7 October 1994; revised version 28 June 1995; accepted for publication 25 July 1995.

0959-5236/95/040369-07 © Australian Professional Society on Alcohol and Other Drags, 1995

370 Lucinda Burns et al.

nection more fiJ~y, a vast range of research studies has evolved. Briefly, these studies have fallen into four main categories: first, cross-cultural surveys in which the level of crime in various countries is compared [3]; secondly, studies which examine the drinking behaviour of convicted criminals and their victims [4-6]; thirdly, studies examining alcohol consumption around the time of arrest or charge [7-9]; and finally, studies showing that a large num- ber of offences occur in and around licensed prem- ises [10-13].

There are, therefore, a myriad of studies which have sought to uncover the connection between alcohol and violence. However, fewer studies have been directed at examining the impact of interven- tions aimed at reducing the prevalence of this phenomenon. One stud), that has analysed the ef- fects of introducing an intervention to reduce al- cohol-related violence was conducted by Jeffs & Saunders in 1983 [7].

These authors reported on the positive effect of introducing a policy of greater supervision by police of licensed premises in reducing alcohol-related viol- ence. The rationale for the study began with the recognition that enforcement of certain liquor licensing regulations was, at the time, minimal. The study itself involved police regularly visiting licensed premises in a popular English seaside area. The town was one which had a history of outbreaks of public disorder during summer holidays. Licensees in this area were told that the police visits had the aims of (a) preventing and detecting offences relat- ing to drunkenness on the premises and (b) prevent- ing and detecting the purchase and consumption of alcohol by those who were under age. The publicans were reminded of their obligations under the licens- ing legislation and the difficulties in determining intoxication and age of young persons were acknowl- edged. The police made it dear that they would be there to help if refusal of service caused trouble.

The intervention visits were made by two or three officers in uniform who conspicuously entered target premises, spoke to bar staff and checked for under age drinking and those quaintly" described as "persons the worse for drink". Visits were conducted on a varying, rather than a predictable, routine. Most premises were visited at least two or three times a week. During these visits police adopted a friendly manner, exchanged pleasantries and got to know the regulars.

The study reported a significant decrease (around

20%) in arrests in the experimental town in 1978 compared with a control town. However, the au- thors cite one limitation which needs to be acknowl- edged when interpreting these results. That is the fact that the towns under investigation were tourist centres. The use of this type of town limits the generalizability of the results to other towns with more stable populations. Jells & Saunders suggest, however, that similar police activity may have even greater influence in locations where the patrons of licensed premises are stable local residents rather than "holiday makers".

Despite these limitations, the possibility that al- cohol-related crime could be reduced by 20% or even more through a relatively simple change in police procedure was of interest to the New South Wales Police Service. If replicated in New South Wales then valuable and limited police resources could be redeployed to other areas of need. Therefore the NSW Police Service, together with the NSW Bu- reau of Crime Statistics and Research, sought to replicate this intervention study in New South Wales. The overall aim of the present project was to assess the effect of heightened police super~sion of the NSW Liquor and Registered Clubs Acts (the intervention) on the number of recorded criminal offences and, specifically, the number of assaults.

Methodology Study design

The design of the study was of the ABA type, where the number of offences in a set of "experimental" patrols was compared to the number of offences in a set of "contror' patrols. Comparisons were carried out for 2 months prior to introduction of the inter- vention, 2 months during the intervention and for 2 months foUowing withdrawal of the intervention.

Police patrols participating in the study

The NSW Police Service is divided into geographi- cally based units called patrols. A subset of 10 of these was selected to participate in this trial. The selected police patrols were those that met certain criteria. First, as the intervention involved visits to licensed premises by police, and as no extra staff were recruited for the study, each patrol had to have beat police (police on foot patrol) who would be able to undertake the enforcement as part of their exist-

Policing pubs: what happens to crime? 371

ing roles. Secondly, for liaison purposes it was necessary that all patrols be located in the Sydney metropolitan area. Thirdly, to enable the attainment of meaningful statistical differences, it was necessary that crime rates in the patrols be relatively high and stable.

The frequency and stability of the recorded of- fences for each potential patrol were examined on a month-to-month basis over the period of December to March for both 1989/90 and 1990/91. In all, 10 patrols were found to meet the trial criteria. These 10 patrols were then paired off so that patrols within each pair were matched on the population propor- tions of the following socio-economic variables; age between 15 and 29 years, annual income of less than A$9000 per annum, unemployment, emplo)wnent as a labourer and number of residents who were Aus- tralian-born. Finally, five of these patrols were ran- domly allocated to the experimental group, and the remaining five patrols allocated to the control group.

Measures

The independent variable for this study was height- ened police supervision of the NSW Liquor and Registered Clubs Acts, particularly with regard to serving under-age and intoxicated people. This heightened police presence occurred in certain prese- lected licensed premises in each of the five exper- imental patrols. The selection of these premises was guided by the Patrol Commander and was based on prior experience with "troublespots" in each of the patrols.

Supervision visits to these premises were carried out by the local beat police. Each visit was conduc- ted by two uniformed beat police who would con- spicuously enter the premises, engage in brief conversations with the bar staff and regular patrons, and check for patrons who were intoxicated and/or under-aged. Each visit was to last no longer than 10 minutes unless breaches of the licensing laws were detected, in which case police were to spend addi- tional time speaking to the bar staff and also to the licensee if the breach was serious. The visits were to occur two to three times a week, according to a schedule drawn up by the Beat Sergeant of each experimental patrol, together with the project staff. This schedule was recorded on specifically tailored sheets that outlined each premises to be visited as well as the day and shift that each visit was to take place.

A 'Record of Visitation to Licensed Premises' sheet was kept to monitor compliance with the supervision schedule. These sheets were given to the beat pofice at the commencement of their shift and documented the visits to take place, whether the scheduled visits occurred, the reason for any missed visits, the time of the visits and any police action that was taken. Completed sheets were collected at the end of each shift and returned to the project staff.

For each experimental patrol, a meeting also took place with the police and the licensees of the targeted premises. The aim of these meetings was to outline the study to the licensees, to remind them of their obligations under the Liquor Act and the Registered Clubs Act, and to encourage them to work together with the police to prevent excessive alcohol consumption on their premises. The li- censees were advised that police assistance could be obtained if they had trouble meeting their obliga- tions at any time (for example, to remove intomcated or rowdy patrons from the premises).

A written manual was prepared to assist the Patrol Commanders of the experimental patrols. The man- ual introduced the study, outlined the responsibili- ties and protocol for all police officers involved, and provided guidelines for a "Licensing Education Manual" that the Patrol Commanders were, in col- laboration with project staff, required to produce and disseminate to all participating beat police. The "Licensing Education Manual" contained the proto- col for the visits as well as other relevant intbrmation such as current police circulars on licensing issues and notes on police powers under the Liquor Act and Registered Clubs Acts. In particular, Section 125 of the Liquor Act pertaining to intoxicated people was incorporated. This section outlines the definition of intoxification to be used by the beat police as being a state "in which a person has lost control of their body and mental faculties".

To prevent possible confounding, all 10 police patrols agreed that, during the course of the study, no new police initiatives additional to those of the study would be undertaken to target alcohol-related crime. The Patrol Commanders of the control pa- trols were informed by the NSW State Commander of Police that the involvement of their patrols in the study would simply involve a continuation of normal duties without the introduction of any intert, ention or police initiative to reduce alcohol-related crime. The beat police in the control patrols were kept

372 Lucinda Burns et al.

"blind" to their control status. No further contact was made with the control patrols during the course of the study.

A number of meetings were held with the exper- imental patrols to prepare them for their involve- ment in the study. A central meeting took place where the Commissioner of Police enlisted the sup- port of the Patrol Commanders and the Beat Sergeants of the experimental patrols, and the proj- ect staff outlined the study. Subsequently, indMdual meetings were held with the police officers in each experimental patrol to assist them in drawing up the schedule of visits and to provide educational sessions in how the enforcement should be carried out.

Dependent variables were the total number of criminal offences (that is, all offences that occurred over the relevant time periods and were reported to and recorded by police), the number of these of_ fences that were specifically assault-related and the number of public hospital admissions for assault- related injuries in hospitals that service each of the patrols.

Information on the number of criminal offences was obtained from the Criminal Incident Reporting database kept at Police Headquarters. The number of hospital admissions for assault-related injuries was obtained from all public hospitals servicing each police patrol, either by the project staff directly or by trained hospital personnel. As hospital personnel do not collect this information routinely, for the period of the study patients coming into the casualty de- partments were asked whether they had been the victims of assault. If a patient stated they had been a victim of assault a sticker indicating this to be the case was placed on the admission book and the book then audited by a member of the project team. It was considered important to obtain information on hospital admissions for assault-related injuries be- cause many' assaults are not reported to police, but medical attention is usually sought if injuries are serious [8].

Results

The intervention

A total of 49 premises (or 64% of all licensed clubs and hotels in the five areas) were visited in the experimental patrols, with an average of about two visits per week to each premises. Overall, the exper- imental patrols kept to the predetermined schedule

of visits, making 805 of the proposed 1025 visits (79%). None of these visits resulted in prosecutions of the publicans for serving alcohol to intoxicated persons or minors.

All offences

Results are presented as a grouped variable (inter- vention versus control), rather than comparing indi- vidual numbers in each patrol on a pairwise basis. The rationale for this was that, first, the small numbers of offences in some patrols meant that confidentiality could not be ensured, and secondly, our intervention was used to mark the potential efficacy of introducing statewide policy change, rather than ascertain its effect at the smaller patrol level.

Fig. 1 presents the total number of criminal of- fences. Overall, there was a significant association between group (experimental or control) and time period (pre-intervention, intervention or post-inter- vention) (Z2 = 10.6, df= 2, p < 0.005). Giving these figures meaning, the number of offences increased from pre-intervention to intervention and then de- creased from intervention to post-intervention for the experimental group. In the control group the reverse trend was noted. That is, the number of offences decreased from pre-intervention to intervention and then increased from intervention to post-intervention. When considering these changes on a pairwise basis, significant associations were found between the group and time period for the pre-intervention and the intervention period (;C 2 = 22.41, d f= 1, p < 0.00t) and the inter- vention and post-intervention period ()~2=9.97, dr= 1, p < 0.005). No significant association was found between the group and time period variables for the pre-intervention and post-intervention phases (X 2 = 2.64, df= 1, p > 0.05).

Assaults

Fig. 2 presents information on the number of as- saults. Overall, these changes were statistically significant (Z 2 = 6.50.6, dr= 2, p < 0.05). Interpret- ing these figures overall, the number of offences increased from pre-intervention to intervention and then decreased from intervention to post-interven- tion for the experimental group. In the control group, however, the reverse trend was noted. That is, the number of offences decreased from

Polidng pubs: wha t happens to crime? 373

4600 -

4400 - _ _ ~ - ~

4 2 0 0 - -

8 4000

O

3800

3600 " - ' - - " - " - -

Z 3400

3200

3000 t 1 Pre- intervent ion Intervention Post- intervention

Time period in 2- month blocks

Figure 1. All offences by group and lime.--, Experimental group; - - - , control group.

pre-intervention to intervention and then increased from intervention to post-intervention. When con- sidering these changes on a pairwise basis significant effects were found between groups in the pre- intervention and the intervention period (Z 2=6.41, d f = l , p<0.025). However, no significant differences were found between groups in the intervention and post-intervention phases (Z 2 = 3.22, d r= 1, p > 0.05) or between groups in the pre-intervention and post-intervention phases (Z 2 = 0.54, df = 1, p > 0.05).

Fig. 3 show-s the number of assault-related hospi- tal admissions. As indicated, there was a decrease in the number of assault-related hospital admissions from pre-intervention to intervention for both the experimental and control patrols. In contrast to the assault offence findings, however, no significant as- sociation was found between the group and the time period variables (72=0.7, d f = l , p>0.05) . The number of assauk-related hospital admissions was not collected for the post-intervention period.

Discussion

The results of our study did not confirm the findings of the Jeffs & Saunders [7] study and there is a number of possible reasons for the discrepancy. First, the different populations sampled by the pre- sent study and the Jeffs & Saunders study may require different types of enforcement strategies to reduce crime rates. The present study examined "troublespot" licensed premises servicing a largely

residential population in some of the geographic sections of a large Australian city, whereas the Jeffs & Saunders study examined the "troublespot" li- censed premises servicing a largely tourist population in an entire, but smaller, British town. In order to be effective, law enforcement practices may need to be tailored to the particular population serviced. This may involve the need for further collaboration be- tween the police and those working in the field of health promotion. For example, when dealing with young transient tourist populations, other measures such as the promotion of "trendy" low-alcohol bev- erages may need to be incorporated into the inter- vention. Furthermore, as Putman et aL [14] note, the incorporation of server intervention techniques, where licensees train their bar staff in techniques such as refusing service to intoxicated patrons, has proved highly successful in decreasing the harm associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Secondly, the intervention itself may not have been strong enough to have a significant deterrent effect on crime. For example, it may be the case that not enough visits were carried out or that the visits that were carried out were too mild in manner to have had a demonstrable effect in reducing crime rates. Our intervention did not result in any prosecu- tions of licensees for serving alcohol to intoxicated individuals or to minors. Future intervention visits of this kind may need to be accompanied by more obvious consequences or sanctions applied to li- censed premises that break the law, such as a greater number of charges under the Liquor Act.

374 Lucinda Burns et aL

420

400

= 380

~6 360

~ 3 4 0 Z

820

~ / /

~ / ~ ~

300 I I Pre-intervention Intervention Post-intervention

Time period in 2- month blocks

Figure 2. Number of assaults by time and group.--, Experimental group; - - - , control group.

Thirdly, there exists the possibility that our intervention may have been contaminated by other police interventions that were not measured but that occurred concurrently with our study. When undertaking studies of such scope and nature it is perhaps inevitable that not all potenfal contam- inants can be measured. However, it is to be hoped that these were minimized by the request of the Commissioner of Police to all patrols not to carry out any similar police operations for the duration of the study. A further type of contamination which may have occurred but was not measured is that of intervention "leakage" from the experi- mental to the control patrols. Again, it is to be hoped that this type of contamination was minimized through the support of the police hierarchy.

Fourthly, it is unclear from the Jeffs & Saunders

study" whether crimes that occurred during the en- forcement visits were included in the analysis of results. In the present study all offences were in- cluded. Our results may then be attributed to in- creased police vigilance in the experimental patrols during the intervention phase. That is, by virtue of the nature of the intervention, police spent a greater proportion of their on-duty time in or near licensed premises, places where high rates of crime tend to occur. Thus, during the intervention, police would have had an increased oppommity to record offences and to make arrests in comparison to their normal practices.

This proposition is given weight by the finding that the number of hospital admissions for assault- related injuries actually decreased during the inter- vention period. Taken together these two issues indicate that, although more offences were observed

400

.o_ 380

360 0~

"5 340 e3 . o

320 Z

3OO J Pre-intervention Time Intervention

Figure 3. Assault-related admissions by time and by group.--, Experimental group; - - - , control group.

Poticing pubs: what happens to crime? 375

in the experimental patrols during the intervention phase, comparative to the pre- and post-intervention phases, the overall number of offences that occurred did not increase.

Fifthly, our method of analysis, undertaken as an aggregate comparison of experimental to control patrols may have swamped any significant pairwise comparisons between specific individual patrols.

Future directions

Although our results were not in the direction hypothesized by the Jells & Saunders [7] study they are none the less useful and provide guide- lines for future research in this area. Such research could include, for example, an analysis of the efficacy of differing levels of intervention. I t may be the case that interventions that are more intense or that continue for a longer period of time may demonstrate an effect of decreasing crime. Extend- ing the intervention would also mean that smaller unit comparisons, between individual patrols could be made.

The issue of measurement is one worthy of future consideration. For example, the information we collected from the hospitals indicated whether patients coming into the casualty centres had been the victims of assault. W e did not, however, note whether in fact the assault took place within the catchment areas we were evaluating. Future research could look to measuring this outcome in further detail and attempting to make a closer link between the intervention and the outcome.

Finally, the possibility that an effect may be felt on alternative outcome measures should also be explored. Such measures could include measures which are more independent of the intervention than was currently measured; that is, looking at police recorded offences and, in par- ticular, assaults. More independent measures could include counts of road traffic accidents, domestic violence orders, resident satisfaction with this type of policing or the impact that inter- ventions such as the one demonstrated in this study have in decreasing residents fear of crime. Effects such as these have been found in some studies [15,16].

References

[1] Scullard H. From the Gracchi to Nero: a history of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68. London: Methuen, 1959.

[2] Fosberry E. Report to the Principal Undersecretary by Edmund Fosberry, Sydney: Inspector General of Police, 1880/1: 1.

[3] Pemanen K. Alcohol in Human Violence. NewYorlc Guilford Press, 1981.

[4] White R, Boyer K. Alcoholism amongst the Tasman- Jan prison population: Research note. Aust NZ J Criminol 1986; 18: 109-114.

[5] Bradbury J. Violent offending and drinking patterns. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington, 1984.

[6] Indermaur D. Prisoners experience with alcohol. In: Vernon J, ed. Alcohol and Crime, Proceedings of a Conference on Mcohol and Crime. Canberra: Aus- tralian Institute of Criminology, 1990.

[7] Jells B, Saunders W. Minimising alcohol related offences by enforcement of the existing licensing legislation. Br J Addict 1983; 78: 67-77.

[8] Fnlde G, Cuthbert M, Kelly R. Violence in sodety: fact or fiction. Emergent T Med 1991; 3: 37-80.

[9] Ireland S, Thommeny J. The crime cocktail: licensed premises, alcohol and street offences. Drug Alcohol Rev 1993; 12: 143-150.

[10] Roncek D, Pravatiner M. Additional evidence that taverns enhance nearby crime. J Sociol Soc Res 1989; 73: 185-218.

[11] Robb T. Police reports of serious assaults in New South Wales. Sydney: New South W'ales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 1988.

[12] Victorian Community Council Against Violence. Vi- olence in and around licensed premises. Melbourne: Victorian Community Council Against Violence, 1992.

[13] Stockwell T, Lang E, Rydon P. High risk drinking settings: the association of serving and promotion practices with harmfi.d drinking. Addiction 1993; 88: 1519-1526.

[14] Putnam S, Rockett I, Campbell M. Methodological issues in community-based alcohol-related injury pre- vention projects: attribution of program effects. Expe- riences with community action Projects. In: Greenfield and Zimmerman eds. CSAP Prevention Monograph 14, 1992.

[15] Kellin G, Pate T. A study of foot patrol work: the Newark experiment. Res Bull 1981; 11: 30-32.

[16] RamsayM. Restricting public drinking: studies bythe Home Office and two local authorities. Res BuU 1991;30:16-20.